Varying Degrees of L'attitude by Kevin McDonald

A new addition to the wine bar scene in the bay area is Vino Locale in downtown Palo Alto. The concept is sound, serve local wine and local food to locals. The execution of concept left us unsatisfied.

Thursday evenings we have a baby sitter and head out for a quiet evening doing two of our favorite things: eating food and drinking wine. The week prior we went to Vino Locale only to read a sign on the door as we entered stating that there was a private party later that evening and they were closed. So, we went to Coppola's around the corner. The next week we phoned first. "Are you open to the public this evening? The last week you were closed due to a private party." "Yes, we are open this evening. Come on in." Awesome. There is nothing like not being allowed into a place that makes you want to get into that place even more. This time we were going to get in. It was a warm evening but in the shade there was a light breeze and the patio out back should be rather enjoyable. So we thought.

We were greeted at the bar and welcomed but as I started to make my way to the back patio we were told it was closed due to a private party. I was turning red as I asked why we weren't told this 20 mins ago when we telephoned.....The fact was we were not going to be sitting outside and there was little arguing would do to change that. We sat down at a small table near the wine bar inside.

My wife ordered a tasting of local pinot noirs while I went through our dinner options. Five generous tastings arrived at our table. The table was made of iron with the top having a decorative weave. A very nice table to look at but not level enough to put 5 wine glasses on without constant fear of one or more falling over. I tasted the first wine and was stunned. It was HOT. I tasted the second wine it too was HOT and so on through all FIVE wines were HOT. So I ask the waitress if we were to order a bottle with our meal would it be the same temperature as the tasting or was it just the open bottles on the bar that were so hot. She indicated that all the bottle are stored in the same place and that due to today's heat the bottle would be the same temperature as the room we were sitting in. This is unforgivable for a wine bar. I truly hope that they cycle through their wines at a pretty good clip and don't ruin them with improper storage.

We order a bottle of 03 Cinnabar Santa Cruz Mt. Pinot Noir and a bucket of ice to chill the bottle. (Nice but not great - black cherry w/ chocolate traces soft tannins). The waitress uncorks the bottle pours me a sip to confirm the bottle is not corked and then puts the cork back into the bottle. Let's just say, that is not what I would have done to a customer with an emply glass and a young bottle of wine.

A while later a waiter approaches our table (not our original waitress) and asks if we would like anything else; he takes our food order. Thirty minutes later our original waitress approaches us with the check in hand asking if she may get us anything else..... "Ahhh yes, our food." 

Now for the good news-- The prices are reasonable and the food is really good. Skip the chocolate truffles but don't miss the sausages! I'd love to say avoid this place but they have a lot good things going:  location, food, outdoor seating (when available), reasonable prices. They need to get their service act together and nail the fundamentals  of serving wine.